Leon Panetta

Clinton Administration

Panetta was once again scooped up by the executive branch in 1993, when President Clinton appointed him director of the Office of Management and Budget. There, he focused on balancing the country’s finances, drafting a package that some say helped Clinton achieve his eventual surpluses.Panetta Institute Web site

After Republicans took control of Congress in 1994 for the first time in 40 years, Clinton turned to the longtime congressman to serve as his chief of staff in July 1994.

He was tasked with bringing order to a chaotic White House that seemed unable to focus or act decisively. Panetta cut down on Clinton’s speaking engagements, limited aides’ face time and focused their portfolios and helped negotiate the yearly budget. “By the time he was here two weeks, I could see how calm things were,” Clinton told The Washington Post in 1997.Wines, Michael, “White House Memo; First Things (the Elections) First for Chief of Staff,” New York Times, Aug. 11, 1994

Panetta told the New Yorker the job was incredibly intense. “When I was at the O.M.B., it was hard to find time to go to the bathroom. Now I can’t eat. Maybe it’s all working out,” he said.Blumenthal, Sidney, “The Princeling,” New Yorker, July 1994

Panetta left Washington in 1997, right before the Clinton impeachment scandal erupted, and founded the Leon & Sylvia Panetta Institute for Public Policy, a California think tank that addresses a wide range of policy problems, including attracting young people to public service.Panetta Institute Web site He was also a member of the Iraq Study Group, the Independent Task Force on Immigration and America’s Future, and on the board of directors of the New York Stock Exchange.

In January 2009, Obama nominated Panetta as CIA director. Panetta’s limited intelligence experience sparked criticism on the Hill and in the intelligence community, especially because Panetta’s name was leaked to the press before Obama had spoken with Senate leaders. “I think it’s a bizarre choice,” said Amy Zegart, a professor at UCLA’s School of Public Affairs who specializes in intelligence issues. “I think it’s profoundly misguided.”

However, some intelligence experts defended the choice, saying an outsider would bring fresh perspective to the struggling agency. “He will bring … an outside perspective that I think might be helpful at this juncture in the C.I.A.'s history,” former House International Relations Committee Chairman Lee Hamilton (D-Ind.) told the New York Times.“Leon E. Panetta,” New York Times, Jan. 5, 2009

Iraq

As a member of the Iraq Study Group, Panetta kept a close eye on the situation in that country. The group called for American forces to begin withdrawal from Iraq to prove that the U.S. will not stay there indefinitely. The group also called for extended diplomatic efforts and engagement across the Middle East, including with Iran and Syria.

Panetta suggested the U.S. set clear benchmarks for the Iraqi government to meet in order to continue to receive American support. He has argued that the end goal must be self-sovereignty and national reconciliation. For this reason, he favored a specific withdrawal date for U.S. troops from Iraq.

“The president and the Congress should make very clear to the Iraqis that there is no open-ended commitment to our involvement,” he wrote in an op-ed in the New York Times. “As the Iraq Study Group recommended, there must be a price to be paid if the Iraqis continue to fail to make good on key reforms.”Panetta, Leon, "What About Those Other Iraq Deadlines?" New York Times, April 4, 2007

Furthermore, Panetta has argued that the case for the Iraq war was based on faulty intelligence. “In a democratic society, winning a war depends on the support of the people. And the support of the people depends on their trust that they are being told the truth by their leaders,” he wrote.“Leon E. Panetta,” New York Times, Jan. 5, 2009

Torture

Before joining the Obama administration, Panetta was an outspoken opponent of harsh interrogation tactics used on terrorist detainees in the Bush administration. “We cannot and we must not use torture under any circumstances. We are better than that,” he wrote in 2008 for the Washington Monthly.Panetta, Leon, “No Torture. No Exceptions,” Washington Monthly, Winter 2008

The American public, Panetta argued, was convinced that torture is acceptable because it was afraid of future attacks on U.S. soil. However, Panetta said that the country’s founders created a new nation that would “recognize that every individual has an inherent right to personal dignity.” According to Panetta, torture is a violation of those basic rights. “We have preached these values to the world … it's what is supposed to make our leaders different from every tyrant, dictator, or despot.”

At his confirmation hearings in January 2009, Panetta said that he would not allow the CIA to torture prisoners, to maintain secret prisons or to force the transfer of prisoners to countries that allow torture.Warrick, Joby and Pincus, Walter, "CIA Nominee Panetta Vows An End to Disputed Tactics," The Washington Post, Feb. 6, 2009

In August 2009, Panetta oversaw the release of a 2004 report on the holding of high-profile terror suspects by the CIA. The report indicated that several of the detainees were abused. The report, by the CIA's inspector general, said the agency's efforts to provide "systematic, clear and timely guidance" to interrogators was "inadequate at first" but "improved considerably."Office of the Inspector General, "Counterterrorism, Detention and Interrogation Activities," Central Intelligence Agency, May 7, 2004

Pelosi Controversy

In spring 2009, Panetta clashed with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) over when the speaker was informed that enhanced interrogation techniques such as waterboarding were used on terrorist detainees by CIA employees. In May 2009, Panetta released documents stating that Pelosi was informed in September 2002 of the use of such tactics; Pelosi fiercely denied that she had that knowledge until early 2003. Panetta said that the CIA's records could be erroneous, but defended his employees and agency.

"Let me be clear: It is not our policy or practice to mislead Congress. That is against our laws and our values. As the Agency indicated previously in response to Congressional inquiries, our contemporaneous records from September 2002 indicate that CIA officers briefed truthfully on the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah, describing 'the enhanced techniques that had been employed.' Ultimately, it is up to Congress to evaluate all the evidence and reach its own conclusions about what happened." Panetta stated.Sargent, Greg, The Plum Line at WhoRunsGov.com, "CIA: We’re Right About Torture Briefings, But Please Don’t Take Our Word For It," May 15, 2009

But Pelosi's version of events had some Republicans calling for her ouster.

Iran

The CIA has played a big role in the Iranian nuclear negotiations. Iran disclosed that it had built a seperate uranium-enrichment plant in Qum in September 2009, an announcement that led America and its allies to impose tighter sanctions on the country.

The CIA had known about the plant for more than three years, and Panetta and his staff had worked with European intelligence agencies on a report about the plant in summer 2009. "It was built into a mountain; obviously that raised question marks," 

"We spent the next months trying to get better intel about what was going on there ... and conducting covert operations into that area," Panetta told Time magazine in October 2009 Ghosh, Bobby, "CIA Knew About Iran's Secret Nuclear Plant Long Before Disclosure," Time, Oct. 7, 2009